Welcome to Disability Rights Advocates
Melissa Kasnitz joined Disability Rights Advocates (DRA) in 1997, and became Managing Attorney in 2004. She has litigated numerous class actions, including Barden v. Sacramento, which established that cities have an obligation to remove access barriers along sidewalks, and Cupolo v. BART, which required the San Francisco Bay Area subway system to provide adequate elevator maintenance to ensure that its stations were accessible to people with disabilities. In addition to her litigation work, Ms. Kasnitz is currently heading DRA's telecommunications project, which is working to ensure that people with disabilities have access to new technologies including broadband internet access. Prior to joining DRA, she engaged in public policy and political work in state government, various political campaigns, and environmental policy organizations. Ms. Kasnitz received her law degree from Boalt Hall at U.C. Berkeley in 1992, and her B.A. from Yale University in 1989. Ms. Kasnitz is admitted to practice in all California Courts as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of California, the Eastern District of California, the Central District of California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
